Last night, I cast my vote to pass the Respect For Marriage Act to recognize same-sex marriage at the federal level. Enshrining the right to marry who you love is a major step forward for the LGBTQ community and for anyone who values equality in America. It should have been a moment of joy.

But my joy, and the joy of so many in our state, was blunted by the loss we suffered last weekend in Colorado Springs, when a violent young man — radicalized by hateful and divisive rhetoric — killed five people at Club Q and forever changed a community.

In minutes, he robbed from us brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, friends, and loved ones, who were just being themselves in a place they felt safe. He took from us five vibrant young Coloradans: Derrick Rump, Daniel Davis Aston, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, and Raymond Green Vance.

I stood on the Senate floor and read those names and showed their photos to remind my colleagues and America that, even as we take a major step in the fight for equality, there is so much work left to be done.

We need to pass common-sense gun safety measures to keep guns out of the wrong hands, and we need to combat bigoted rhetoric and online extremism.

We need to stand with the LGBTQ community everywhere, from the floor of the Senate to our own communities, and we can start by banning conversion therapy and passing the Equality Act at the federal level, as we’ve done at the state level in Colorado.

We cannot bring back those we’ve lost, but together we must build a safer and more equitable America to keep all our communities safe in the future. I will never stop fighting for that, and I am glad to have you with me.

In solidarity,

Michael